Creating opportunity

In addition to vocabulary and grammar, students in the Spanish for healthcare minor learn about Spanish-speaking cultures and have mock patient interactions.

After this classroom experience, Salsini-Tobias began volunteering as a telemedicine Spanish interpreter through Saint Francis Hospital in Wilmington, which is part of the Trinity Health system. Trinity also manages a program called Global Health Volunteers, and Salsini-Tobias spent two summers with Global Health working at a clinic in Peru. 

He said that learning about cultural norms in class, like the concept of machismo, helped him relate to patients who may be reluctant to seek medical care.

Salsini-Tobias graduated in 2023 with an honors bachelor of arts degree in biological sciences and minors in history and Spanish for healthcare, a partnership with the College of Health Sciences. He starts medical school in the fall of 2024 at the University of Rochester, where he plans to continue volunteering with local clinics serving native Spanish speakers.

That experience is exactly what Gasta envisioned. Since coming to UD in 2022, he has worked to enhance and expand the LLC’s applied language, or language for special purposes programs, giving students even more options for integrating language into their studies. 

Programs include specialized vocabulary and specific writing skills like drafting technical reports, but as Gasta explained, “We don’t teach engineering or business principles. We teach the culture of engineering or business in another country, the social and political factors that are relevant to being successful abroad.” 

The specialized approach applies to study abroad programs as well. Students in German for Engineering are required to participate in UD’s winter session program in Leipzig. The program is open to all German language students, but engineering students have additional activities like visits to factories and meetings with industry professionals. They also take language classes taught by a German engineer and with engineering students from around the world.

Redirected focus

Gasta explained that advanced language programs traditionally concentrated on studying literature, but students today have greater opportunities. 

“It’s redirecting our focus,” he said. “We’re still trying to improve language proficiency and introduce students to world literatures.” But now students see how they can apply that proficiency to other interests.

Peyton Rautzhan, a senior international business major with minors in economics and French, integrated her language skill into her major course of study. She spent the summer in Belgium as a teaching assistant for a study abroad program for students studying international business operations and management. 

Even though it was not a language-centered program, Rautzhan relied on her French skills to schedule itineraries, plan site visits and coordinate internship placements.  

Starting at UD, Rautzhan knew she wanted to continue her language studies. “I chose international business because that major has a language requirement,” she said. 

She says the French faculty at UD have helped prepare her to succeed by ensuring that coursework matched students’ interests, especially an advanced translation and stylistics course she took last semester with Deborah Steinberger, associate professor of French and comparative literature.

“Dr. Steinberger asked us our majors and sought out teaching materials that aligned with each of our professional development goals,” said Rautzhan. 

As a Blue Hen Ambassador, Rautzhen regularly gives campus tours to prospective students, and she hears their interest in continuing language education. 

“They ask me all the time, and I tell them that something I really appreciate about UD is how easy they make it for students to study majors and minors in different disciplines.” 

“That’s our goal,” Gasta said. “Partnering with other departments and colleges to globalize the curriculum and provide value-added options to majors.”

Building programs

The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures is continually looking to meet student needs. The department and College of Engineering recently revised and expanded the German for Engineering program. 

In the fall of 2024 the Spanish for finance and economics minor — a partnership with the Lerner College of Business and Economics — is expanding to include more majors in the college, and next year students can select courses for an upcoming Spanish for global professionals minor. The new minor will be open to all UD students and will explore topics in agriculture, business, healthcare, criminal justice and STEM disciplines.

“We have other areas that are beyond typical language studies,” Gasta said, noting connections between Japanese and game studies and technology; Korean and Kpop; French and cuisine and tourism; and Russian and diplomacy. 

As the programs grow, students will see more options. “We already have a big footprint on campus, especially in study abroad where we offer more programs to more students than any other department,” Gasta said. “But the real thing is, if we can get more students into the programs, we can offer more courses. And if we can offer more courses, students can do more of what they want.”